Friday, December 30, 2011

A woman from the endocrinologist's office called because they got the results of my fasting blood test. She said I was over-medicating. I was amused at the way she said it since they prescribed my medication. She said she would call in a new prescription for 50 mcg of Synthroid. That's less than I started at! Is it actually possible that my severe reduction in soy in my diet is working, that my body is working better?

We went out for New Year's Eve eve with a friend we used to see on New Year's Eve but he had other plans. His girlfriend's friend actually explained the soy/thyroid thing much better than I can. I should have written it down! We went to Arrogant Butcher and they completely customized a dish for me--the salmon but instead of farro, I had roasted vegetables. We all split some salads--the chopped salad was fine as it comes; the other salad had farro which was left off and the cookies were on one side so I ate the other side. I also had some of the prosciutto and garlic appetizer, without the bread or cheese. So much yumminess.

It was interesting, the girls asked a lot about my diet and allergies, but also checked in with me to make sure they weren't making me uncomfortable or focusing too much on it. I appreciated that they were curious without being insensitive. And the one who ordered the salmon (as it normally would be served, including apples that I didn't get) commented that mine looked better, maybe she should have gotten the same. Sweet!

Update: When the woman at the doctor's office said she was going to call in the new prescription, she was going to call the Walgreen's by my office. I asked her to call the Walgreen's near my house and I gave her the intersection. I didn't look up the address since I was trying to leave for my car's maintenance appointment. When I got the call from Walgreen's the next day, it was another Walgreen's, not at all on my way anywhere. grr. But I got it.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

We invited some family for lunch. While I was making plans for the menu, my husband told me that they would be bringing a scallop potato casserole. That's pretty substantial, so I decided to make chicken with salsa verde (see below) and rice for me and the Celiac guest. I also made a salad for everyone and brownies from a mix for everyone but me and Celiac. We could eat the cake I made the other day. I showed her my new cookbook and she's going to get a copy, too.

The unexpected part was that everyone wanted to eat the chicken. My lesson from this was that I should expect that everyone wants to eat the safe food along with their unsafe food.

The kids had fun (and did not eat the potatoes) playing games and running in the yard. I hope we can do it more often.

Chicken with Salsa Verde

Place chicken breasts in hot skillet; brown for a couple minutes on each side. Add a jar of salsa verde (should have a short ingredient list!) and cover. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Serve over rice.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

First time, coming off the A-frame, come all the way around to the jump behind the green tunnel, then wrap into the near end of the yellow tunnel, over the far jump, wrap and go between that jump and the one next to it, to the teeter, around to the table, over the jump passed up before the teeter, then into the weaves, into the green tunnel, over the two jumps in the front of the second photo.

I briefly saw Dr. H and spent some time with my students for the last time. L worked on my back and shoulders (back includes the butt area as before) and then on the front, she focused mostly on the hip and thigh area. We discussed the previous suggestion from my other student that I should get tested for Celiac. She confirmed with the doctor, and I will get tested for Celiac and a more extensive allergy test in January. The students started on the paperwork while L was working on my shoulders. It was interesting, since they were not initially involved in my case, that they did not realize that I had Celiac symptoms--nausea, vomiting, pain, etc. Dr. H came in at one point to tell them to continue their discussion (I was not involved) about the paperwork later so that I could relax.

I will have the test when I have my next appointment. Since I had Celiac symptoms, the test should be covered by insurance, but the allergy test will be paid out of pocket by me. I will have to eat wheat three times, about a week apart, between now and then. They stressed that I should not go crazy, be moderate. Since I've done so well sticking to my diet, they suggested that I pick three things I am most upset about never having again for my three cheats. I'm so nervous about the after-effects.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It seems like every day is jam packed. Today was a workday. At lunch, I was going to go to JCPenney to return something I ordered online, but it was so busy, and the coupon I was going to use for something else was already expired, so I thought I'd go again later. Instead, I went to the bank and didn't have one of the checks I was going to deposit, so I get to go again tomorrow. (And another check I was expecting arrived in the mail I picked up on my way home.) I did get some lunch from Revo while I was out. And I forgot to ask for no cheese on my chicken tacos. *sigh*

N from the Research group called to let me know that my thyroid levels are up; she's going to send the results to the endocrinologist. I took my monthly survey tonight for the research group too.

Monday, December 19, 2011

I went to Wildflower with coworkers and found that my options are even more limited than I thought since their website doesn't always match their actual soup options for the day.

I have medical insurance (don't call it health care, people!) through my job at a small company so we have a high deductible plan with both an FSA and HRA. My Provigil prescription (for MS fatigue) is really expensive so I hit my deductible and got some free medication.

Friday, December 16, 2011

My company decided to have a Christmas lunch at Buca di Beppo in old town Scottsdale. I checked the interwebs for a gluten-free menu and found it. I told the person coordinating our event what items I should be able to have but when she contacted Buca, she found that the items are not actually g/f but they can make them g/f. She ordered separately for me.

When we arrived, our large group was served appetizers and salads and entrees and dessert. I was happy with my food but also felt like a total freak. I got a separate salad and a separate entree plate after everyone else was served.

On the upside, everyone got a gift card for a Christmas gift and I was able to swap my restaurant one for a Home Depot one very quickly before someone else snagged it from a young lady who rents and had little reason for a HD card.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

I took my lunch to work but then the office emptied out and I had to run an errand, so I decided to eat out. One of my errands was near Babbo's, so I went in and decided to order something I've had a couple times, the pesto chicken (on the "blackboard" menu) with no pesto/cheese, and the mista salad with no cheese or croutons. The chicken comes with roasted veggies on the side, in addition to the veggies on top of the roasted chicken. Of course I skip the starter bread. I love the green ice tea so I had a glass.

When my meal came, I was surprised that the veggies were ice cold; the chicken was lukewarm. My waiter was MIA, but the chef and the manager were talking nearby so I went over, and told them that, although I've never had this happen before here, my meal is cold, could I get it warmed up. The chef immediately said he would remake it and the manager apologized and said that they were just talking about that; someone else had just had the same complaint. He didn't place blame or anything like that, they just started taking care of it, which I really appreciated. Since the chef had already gone back to the kitchen, I asked the manager to remind him that I had no pesto or cheese.

My hot meal was soon in front of me, and I ate it all, with a second glass of tea. When I got my bill, I asked the waiter if it was correct, and he said yes. They charged me for my tea, but not my meal. Nicely done! Excellent recovery.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

I took the day off from work to take care of things. First, I had an appointment at the naturopathic college. My students (L and S) started with my vitals and I'm done to 162.5 (but just under or around 160 at home). L is graduating with my previous student, H, so I will see S next time and then probably have a new student in January. I explained about losing control of my right arm as well as my pain last weekend. She said that it was a good sign that my pain episodes seem to be shorter. Hmm, maybe that's true. I was still miserable.

L did acupuncture primarily on my shoulder. The first point was actually in the soft part of my right hand between the pinky finger and the outer wrist. It hurt quite a bit and she re-did it; it still hurt but subsided. The rest of the points were okay. In addition, she did work on my "lower back" area where I have so much pain. It was kind of a massage of my buttocks, and she used castor oil. L was showing S the spasms there and the points that relax after the work. When I flipped over, she worked on the area just inside the hip bone. They have determined that the "iliad" (that what it sounds like to me) is causing some of the trouble. This is consistent with the tightness I feel through the front hip area when I have the other pains. We talked about "radiation" or how the pain moves down the leg, which for me, is more on the left side although the tightness is more on the right side. Is this a step closer to my light at the end of the tunnel or another wrong path?

I had some time before my next appointment and I thought about getting lunch but it was too early and I wasn't hungry. I have been trying to find some replacement shoes online at JCPenney, without any luck, so I decided to go by the mall. They had them, in black and brown, on sale. They also had some fierce peep toe pumps on the clearance rack. I'm not sure if I'll keep the heels but I know I'll get a lot of use for the replacements.

I went to the dentist for a routine visit. I asked about the frequency of the Xrays, and the technician explained that the newer digital technology is much lower radiation. I also asked about the extra protection for the thyroid and she showed me the flap on the protective gear that they use. Since I asked, she was more careful about making sure it was pulled up as far as possible.

The dentist wants to fill in the top of my back teeth to keep them from getting stuff caught, causing decay. Since I have a lot of trouble keeping those teeth clean through the day, with everything getting caught, I am letting them price it out for next year.

I was hungry by the time I left there, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to eat or that I had time for a sit-down meal, since I couldn't think of any fast place to eat. So I looked for a juice place and accidentally found a Smoothie King. Not sure that's really my definition of a fruit smoothie but okay.

Then I went for my "quarterly" visit with the drug trial neurologist Dr. M and had my blood drawn at Sonora. That is way too much to do in one day but at least it wasn't spread out over several days.

Last weekend, before we went out, I ran across some information about a cookbook that sounded interesting. While we were out, we went to the bookstore, and I found the book. It's my kind of cookbook--pictures of the recipes! It also has variations and tips which will be very useful. It is Paleo Comfort Foods (homestyle cooking for a gluten-free kitchen). So I don't have a gluten-free kitchen but wouldn't that be nice....

I got a spaghetti squash in my produce box, so I tried the pesto spaghetti squash with tomatoes. I made it pretty close to the recipe but I don't think I used enough basil or tomatoes, and I added two chicken apple sausages with the (pork) casing cut off. The interesting thing is that it uses walnuts instead of pine nuts. My husband tried it and said it was pretty good. Then he sat down with a plate of it and decided the first bite was the best one; he couldn't eat very much of it. It took him a minute to understand there wasn't any pasta; I don't think he liked the texture of the spaghetti squash.

I would definitely make this again. Although this book has a lot of eggs in it, I think I will use it quite a bit.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Since changing to left handed bowling, I've been very inconsistent. Today was more inconsistency, but I happened to get my best. score. ever. Even right handed.

4 strikes!

The Thai restaurant that was so accommodating previously was maybe a little less accommodating this time. She told me that there is soy in the curry sauce but they could not add more soy. Hmmm. I had it and I seem to feel fine. I think everyone is confused about the soy issue. Overall, I should not eat soy because of my thyroid. Soy sauce is another issue--besides the soy/thyroid issue, most soy is not gluten-free. Yes, there is gluten-free soy, but I doubt that a typical restaurant would be cooking with it. Since I have so many issues, I'm not really sure that I'll be able to tell if the soy sauce had any effect on me anyway.

We went home for a while before going back out to run errands, and then back home again. I'm not sure if I'm being overly irritable, but I feel like I'm interrupted during every single thing I try to accomplish. Because of that, I feel like I'm not getting anything done. My memory sucks*, and I have so many things going on, so it seems that I'm spinning my wheels, running from one thing to the next and finding things half done all along the way. *1. We went to the bookstore to return a book; they gave me a gift card. We found several things to purchase, which I bought after getting my membership discount. I still have the gift card. 2. We went to Kohl's to purchase some items. At the register, I used my coupon. As soon as we paid, I realize I have Kohl's cash that I didn't use. I seriously just looked at it in my wallet the other day.

Back at home, I had a bit of a melt down when my DH went upstairs and then told me "there aren't any sheets on the bed." I literally dropped the laundry, took care of the bed, then went back downstairs for laundry and dishes. Oh, the meltdown: when I was done with the bed, I told him so very NOT nicely. There I am again, behaving badly.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

After a little gardening, I had a normal Saturday of house chores, watching TV while going through mail and online to-dos. Then we went out for some errands. We got some Christmas gifts while we were out; I just about got a buzz, too. Total Wine gave me pink tequila (trade secret on the pink, but it's not coloring), champagne (now that I had it, I'm not sure if I'm allowed--I think I read something about the carbonation coming from yeast? I'm so confused. My head hurts.), and organic vodka samples.

I wasn't feeling great when we got home, so I rested a little but then it was time to get ready and head out to a surprise birthday party. I thought I should eat but there wasn't time and my husband was certain they would have something I could eat. We were running a tad late, but seriously, Google Maps on my phone sucks. It sucks on his phone too. We ended up calling for directions, and we made it early enough.

By the time the birthday boy showed up, I knew that I wasn't just "not feeling great." It was coming on strong. I tried to be social but also find places to sit. I was in so much pain, even when sitting. As it usually does, it would come and go, but it was so, so terribly bad when it would come. I really wanted to be at home, but I had some fun. The only thing that I could eat was some fruit, and chips and a Larabar that I brought with me. I did accept a shot of the chocolate cherry wine that we brought. It has dairy but I just had to see if I could take the edge off this horrendous pain. It did not really help. FML.

Friday, December 2, 2011

I wasn't feeling great, just kind of blah, so I went to Luci's to get a smoothie for lunch. A few people have been sick recently, so I got the Mellow Yellow for the Vitamin C: mango, pineapple, juice. I also got some chocolate ice cream made with coconut milk. I don't usually get ice cream with lunch, but I knew we were having a surprise baby shower for a co-worker, and there would be snacks and dessert, and I would be empty-handed. I brought hummus and gluten-free tortilla chips, along with my ice cream. One coworker (maybe trying to be funny?) commented on my ice cream; it seemed like he thought it was supposed to be healthy but it still has fat and calories. I reminded him that it's just a substitute for dairy ice cream--it's not what's for dinner. (Usually!)